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Carey Mulligan Is Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby'

Carey Mulligan, one of Hollywood's brightest and most beautiful starlets, will portray Daisy Buchanan in Baz Luhrmann's upcoming adaptation of The Great Gatsby.

This casting comes on the heels of a recent developments that presented names like Leonardo DiCaprio and a virtual who's who of top female actresses for parts in the Gatsby remake. Ironically, she wasn't even on that list last week.

After exploding on the scene with An Education, Mulligan has taken roles in increasingly high profile films in just the last two years. In that short time, she has been in five movies, starring in four of them (she had a small cameo role in Public Enemies). Each was critically well-received and her performances drove much of the praise.

Mulligan's beauty is only enhanced by her elegance. The 25-year-old British actress is perfectly built to portray Daisy Buchanan in this adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's story. While she may fit the bill physically, her typical on-screen characters are nothing like Daisy. This departure from her normally strong female leads will be an interesting angle for Mulligan.

Daisy is the epitome of a ditsy woman that you might find circling a mall for ten hours in modern society. Will Mulligan bring a shroud of maturity to the role? It could work, but might not fit the tone of the character's arc within the story.

Baz Luhrmann's eccentric style will be another new fit for Mulligan. But her ability to transform into the characters she has played on camera will help the transition - as will the apparent rehearsals with Luhrmann.

Baz Luhrmann gave Deadline this photo of Mulligan as Daisy in rehearsals.

Luhrmann told Deadline that the pair rehearsed the character in early November and he snapped the above photo of her in full makeup. Luhrmann has also shown a propensity for directing period pieces.

The Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet director has always been committed to workshopping the roles before casting. This is what ultimately led to his casting of Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo + Juliet.

We still do not know who will portray Gatsby, but the early rumors of DiCaprio would be a fun match on screen. This is a good start for Luhrmann's adaptation, but he is still unsure if The Great Gatsby will be his next film. He is in the early stages of pre-production, so we shouldn't jump the gun here, but casting Mulligan is a great starting point.

What do you think of Mulligan in the classic role once played by Mia Farrow? How would she fit across Leonardo DiCaprio? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.